The French submarine ''Curie'' was a British-built
U-class submarine, a member of the third group of that class to be built. Laid down as HMS ''Vox'' for the
Royal Navy she was transferred to the
Free French Naval Forces on the day she was commissioned, where she served as ''Curie'' from 1943 to 1946, but retaining her
pennant number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
of P67. When P67 returned to the Royal Navy in July 1946 she re-assumed the name ''Vox''.
Service
''Curie'' was handed over to the Free French Naval Forces on 2 May 1943, at a ceremony at Vickers' works in
Barrow
Barrow may refer to:
Places
England
* Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area
** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)
* Barrow, Cheshire
* Barrow, Gloucestershire
* Barro ...
, north west England.
General de Gaulle was present at the occasion, when RN sailors and Vickers workers saluted the raising of the
Cross of Lorraine. She was named after the earlier French submarine
''Curie'', which saw action in
World War I.
After a working up period (during which her screws were damaged on 21 May 1943), her first patrol was to the Norwegian coast in June–July 1943. Up to 3 August 1943, when Free French Naval Forces amalgamated with those from French North Africa, she had been on patrol for 60 days and spent 192 hours submerged.
On the night of 21 June 1944 she bombarded construction sites for shore batteries at
Cap Gros
A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal s ...
on the
Mediterranean coast, and observed several hits. Several weeks later she was working with a British
flotilla in the
Dodecanese
The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...
, sinking a cargo ship on 3 August. On 2 October in the same area she sank the merchant ships and ''Brunhild'' (the former French wine-tanker ''Bacchus'').
In 1945 ''Curie'' relocated from
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
to
Brest in France, subsequently moving for a refit to
Lorient where she stayed until March 1946. She was then on detached duty to a detection school at
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
and returned to the Royal Navy in July 1946 where she regained the name HMS ''Vox''.
Insignia
The badge of HMS ''Vox'' is a
horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
or
cornucopia surmounted by a
trident. That of ''Curie'' was of similar pattern as Royal Navy badges. The badge shows a stag's head and the inscription "Pola 1914", recalling the World War I exploit when the first ''Curie'' was lost.
The ship's mascot was a
terrier named ''Radium''.
See also
*
List of submarines of France
References
External links
Submarine ''Curie'' website (in French). Several unusual photographs.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curie (P67)
British U-class submarines
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
1943 ships
World War II submarines of the United Kingdom
British U-class submarines of the Free French Naval Forces
World War II submarines of France